On Wednesday night, I noticed that Jake was wheezing slightly. I put him to bed, but throughout the night he was coughing and awake and his wheezing was getting much worse. The next morning I took him in to see our pediatrician and they checked his lungs and his pulse oxygen saturation levels. The Doctor said that my little baby boy has asthma and that it could be an infection that caused it to appear or just the weather. his pulse-ox was 88 when we arrived and apparently they like to see it above 90 in order to not go to the hospital for treatment. So while at the doctors office, he received a steroid shot and a breathing treatment on their nebulizer. Then they checked his oxygen level again and it went up to 89. It wasn't looking very good. The doctor sent me home with instructions to nebulize him every four hours with the mask on and come back later that night to check his oxygen again to see if he needed to go to the hospital. It was really hard, because he hated to put the mask on and I just had to wrestle with him for the whole 15 minute treatment to keep him from pulling it off his face. we would end up exhausted after each treatment. We went in later that night, and thank heaven his oxygen was up to 97 so we didn't have to check into the hospital, but he was still wheezing. So it has been four days since this happened and I have to do the breathing treatments for Jake a couple of times a day and give him an oral steroid treatment (which tastes nasty and I have to give him a giant syringe full!) The steroid also has nasty side effects like diarrhea and dizziness being unable to sleep, increased appetite and his limbs could go numb. that's great. I also have to give him an antibiotic (in case it was a bacterial infection that caused the asthma to act up.) My poor baby is starting to eat and be his normal self again, but I am afraid we will have to do this whole thing again in the future. 
Here are some pictures I took last night during one of his breathing treatments
15 comments:
Oh! I'm so sorry! I hate it when they are just sick and you have to use the nebulizer to give them medicine. I would hate to think of it being an ongoing thing. I'm glad he is feeling better and that you didn't have to go to the hospital.
asthma is a Bremner things and I'm so sorry...I have asthma and it funny because it went away when I was 2 or 4 and came back when I turned 12....WERID. Jake is so cutie!!!
Cade has the same thing...and Jax! As they get bigger it becomes more manageable. The one trick I have is that when they are on the steriod I keep a bowl of snacks by them at all times. They really do end-up being hungry all the time. Let him eat whenever he wants and be prepared for monster tantrums...another side effect. Isn't being a parent fun!!!!
I'm sorry Heather, that is hard to deal with. That is a funny mask he has to wear. Maybe I will put that picture on the next calendar. :) I hope it is not something you have to deal with a lot. Good luck and I hope you both get feeling better.
well, at least he doesn't fight the mask anymore, he just puts it on and sits. it is funny though, because he won't turn his head. he just looks around with his eyes.
Oh, poor baby. I hope he is better soon!
He is so much better that he was lots of fun on Sunday and again Monday morning. It was sad to see him Wednesday thru Saturday very sick.
Poor baby! Sienna is sick too but not nearly as bad. That is soooo good you took him in immediately like you did. Good mommy! I am glad to hear he is doing better, poor thing.
Aww, so sad/cute. My next door neighbor growing up had asthma and I always thought the nebulizer was so cool. I'm glad he isn't fighting it anymore. People with asthma say they really do feel better once they've had their neb treatment, maybe he noticed that too. I hope it goes away sooner rather than later.
You should make a cartoon character of him as some kind of special super hero... make a little story out of it that you can read to him. That might help him (and you) feel better about it! :)
I'm so sorry! I like the super hero cartoon idea. I hope he feels better.
Poor Jake, there should be a rule that kids aren't allowed to get sick until they are 12 or so. Never would be nice but I'd settle for 12.
ps - does Randy know you've been mating with dolphins?
poor little Jakey. Asthma?! Those breathing treatments and medicines don't sound fun at all. Especially for a sweet little boy like Jakey. I hope things improve and that you will get a handle on this. I remember my cousin who still has to do breathing treatments often. He's a tough kid like Jake, so I know he'll do a great job. I'm sorry Heather!
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